Tag Archives: Syria
After Fleeing Danger, Children Deserve a Warm Welcome
I am just back from the island of Lesvos in the southeastern part of Greece, where I was visiting our programs for refugees who have made the perilous crossing from Turkey. It is a surreal experience: on the one hand a beautiful island with lovely small towns where vacationers from Europe flock in the summer […]
Taking on an Overwhelming Challenge: The Child #RefugeeCrisis
Overwhelming is the best word for it. It has been more than a week since the photo of little Alan Kurdi, the three year-old Syrian refugee who drowned along with his mother and brother in an attempt to flee to Europe, captured the world’s attention. This image has put a human face on a […]
Living in Limbo
Syrian children across the region have it very tough. There are now almost three million refugees who have fled Syria since the war started more than three years ago and an estimated 50% of them are children. They spread across five countries, with the highest number in Lebanon—nearly 1 million refugees living there in informal […]
Syrian Kids, Lebanese Schools: A New “Normal”
When we came inside the tent, the Syrian family of eight welcomed us warmly and urged us to sit close to the small stove in the center for warmth. While the weather had improved from the previous weeks when a winter storm dropped several inches of snow and temperatures dropped below freezing, it […]
New Boots Bring Hope in Jordan
The kindergarten inside the Za’atari camp in Jordan is a little island of happiness inside a place that is full of tragedy. Here, 3-5 year-old Syrian children living in the huge camp are able to come three times per week in the morning or afternoon to have fun, build social skills and start learning. The […]
Courageous Work in Freezing Temperatures
With more than half of the United States under a blanket of snow this week, it’s clear that winter is here! The frosty weather has arrived in full force—but it’s not just the Midwest or East Coast where winter is making itself felt. The winter snow storms have started in Lebanon and Jordan, and my […]
With No Way to Return Home, Syrian Refugees in Iraq Live in Limbo
The boy standing in the cement block doorway called to us to take his picture. We couldn’t resist his bright smile in the bleak and dust of the refugee camp. We went over and snapped a few shots and he looked at them proudly on our cell phones. His uncle, who was hovering close by, […]
In Refugee Camps, Basics Become Luxuries
The Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan is home to more than 100,000 refugees who have fled the fighting in Syria, but it’s unlikely that any of the camp’s residents consider this place—cold, crowded and under resourced—“home.” I traveled to Za’atari last week after the launch of Save the Children’s recent global report, Childhood Under […]
